Various types of medical devices employ a needle for piercing the skin of a patient for diagnostic or therapeutic purposes. One such fluid transfer device is a fluid collection device which includes a needle for piercing a blood vessel or other part of the patient to allow a fluid, for example, blood, to be sampled from a patient. When the needle is inserted into the patient, blood or other fluid is withdrawn through the needle, for example, into a vacuum collection tube. Handling of such needle-bearing medical devices after the needle is withdrawn from the patient can result in the unwanted transmission of various pathogens thereby exposing medical personnel and possibly others to serious or fatal illness due to an inadvertent needle stick injuries as well as other blood borne pathogens exposed through fluid or blood which leaks out of the device following use and removal from the patient.